New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Manatū Aorere
25 October 2024
195 Lambton Quay
Private Bag 18−901
Wellington 6160
New Zealand
Do Kyun Kim
T +64 4 439 8000
F +64 4 472 9596
[FYI request #28621 email]
OIA 29732
Tēnā koe Do Kyun Kim
Thank you for your email of 2 October 2024 in which you request the following under the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA):
Please refer to an RNZ article 26 May 2016 for the incident which took place in South Korea
in 2016. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/304865/nz-diplomat-involved-in-incident-
with-seoul-police
I would like to request the following information.
1. Identities of those involved - 1 diplomat and 2 businessmen
2. If above is not possible, just the identity of the diplomat
3. Outcome of any legal actions taken by either of NZ or Korean authorities
4. Any taxpayers money spent to resolve this case
Regarding parts 1 and 2 of your request, information relating to the identities of the diplomat and
the other individuals involved is withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect individuals’
privacy.
Part 3 of your request asks for the outcome of any legal actions taken by either New Zealand or
Korean authorities. After an interview by Korean police, the diplomat was not involved in any
further legal action by New Zealand or Korean authorities regarding the matter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Ministry) does not hold any information relating to
direct costs associated with this incident. Staff hours were used in the process of responding to
this incident. Funding for the Ministry’s staff comes out of the Ministry’s baseline funding and staff
hours are not recorded or broken down against individual pieces of work. Accordingly, your
request for
any taxpayers money spent to resolve this case is refused under section 18(g) of the
OIA, as the information requested is not held.
Where the information has been withheld under section 9 of the OIA, we have identified no public
interest in releasing the information that would override the reasons for withholding it.
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to official information
requests where possible. Therefore, our response to your request (with your personal information
removed) may be published on the Ministry website:
www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/contact-
us/official-information-act-responses/
e [MFAT request email]
w www.mfat.govt.nz
Page 2 of 2
If you have any questions about this decision, you can contact us by email at:
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman of this decision by contacting
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Sarah Corbett
for Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade